Italian Food and Flavours

Amaretto Chocolate Truffles

A perfect Valentine gift made with dark chocolate and Amaretto which is a sweet, almond-flavoured, Italian liqueur, made from a base of apricot pits or almonds, sometimes both.
These are a decadent treat for chocolate lovers and talking about lovers of chocolate, a visit to Perugia ( about an hour away from Italian food and flavours headquarters) is a must where you can visit the Perugina factory and sample some of Italy’s finest chocolate!

A decadent, soft textured truffle, coated with chopped almonds or cocoa powder. Present them to your loved one, maybe in a jar ( as with Carluccio’s Truffles) or in a box lined with red tissue paper. Makes enough to share, of course!

Amaretto Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:

150g good quality ( 75% cocoa solids) dark chocolate

150ml cream ( I used a dollop of mascapone mixed with normal cream)

25g butter

2 tablespoons of Amaretto liquor

Sifted cocoa powder

Finely chopped almonds

Method:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces
Place the cream and mascapone into a small saucepan and bring to simmering point.
Take off the heat and add the butter, the chopped chocolate and stir until all combined and smooth.
Add the Amaretto and stir.
Now leave to cool in the fridge for an hour, but keep checking as you don’t want it too hard!
Taking 2 teaspoons, make rough truffle shapes ( see photo) and place on grease proof paper.
Return to fridge for approx an hour.
Sift some cocoa powder onto a plate and prepare the chopped almonds.
Now roll the truffles into a ball shape, using your hands – this will get a little messy!!
Finally, roll in the desired coating and place in fridge to firm up.